Impact – directed by Arthur Lubin –– a noir thriller in which a man starts a new life with a new name when he is double-crossed by his wife, while a new love and wily detective help him out, 111 minutes. Black and white 1949.
* * * *
Ella Raines has a level-eyed honesty and shining directness that perfectly suited the smart but innocent heroines of the era. She had beautiful dark hair with a widow’s peak that could be worn in any style, a slender figure that looked wonderful in slacks. She was always physically limber and at ease on camera, and this helps opposite Brian Donlevy’s habitual stiffness as an actor –– here twenty years too old for the part, but still quite affecting in it. It’s a case of the role making the actor. The plot falls apart at the end, but the filming is excellent, including a wonderful car crash off a cliff, which I imitated as a little boy with my tinkerkoy convertible. Ah, death and destruction! We also have the delicious gravy of the great Charles Coburn as an Irish detective. What a master he was!
[ad#300×250]